Toru Nakazawa, president of Plextor LLC’s USA operations stated, “This announcement by Shinano Kenshi will have no material affect on the operations of Plextor LLC, as we already completed a corporate reorganization in North and South America last year. Our business will continue as usual.”

Nakazawa also went on to clear up the confusion with the press release issued yesterday by Shinano Kenshi. According to Nakazawa, “It is unfortunate that an incorrect translation of a Japanese article, which contained some errors, has led to the rumor that Plextor is somehow quitting the optical disc drive business. This is completely false. In fact, Plextor plans to continue to lead the market with innovative, exciting products that solve real world problems for our consumer and business customers. We deeply appreciate the loyalty of our customers and valued business partners. And we look forward to many years of future success.”

Exactly. My old SCSI CDROM Plextor lasted many years - and still works, if I were to actually put it in a system. But my newer DVD burner lasted less than 2 years after which it gave up a ghost. I was stunned to learn that their warranty on retail drives is only 1 year (used to be longer). It was an excellent burner with great media support and features for testing the burn quality, but the longevity of hardware was not there. Their newer drives aren't even as good with basics anymore. Given 3X the price, buying a Plextor cannot be justified as you're just buying the brand name and a few scanning features. That's probably the reason they lost their lustre. I mean, if your selling point is quality, then that's one thing you can't skimp on. Too bad. I am always willing to pay more for good quality, but it seems others aren't - as price seems to be the only distinguishing factor between products in many industries nowdays.